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The Significance of a Moon – Goblin Slayer Episode 3 Review

Goblin Slayer episode 3 was released October 21, 2018, on Japanese television as well as being simulcast on Crunchyroll with subtitles. We finally find out the significance of a moon and why it stands out so much throughout this series.

This episode was a set up episode, but it was good set up letting us know that the story is going in a direction that will fulfill our expectations of the series. I like the characters that were introduced, the atmosphere is consistent with the previous episode, and I have a small nitpick with the animation but it was still good overall. All aspects of the episode will be covered in this review, and I really want to talk about the significance of a moon that one of the characters bring up in a conversation.

Description

A high elf, a dwarf, and a lizardman are representatives of different kingdoms who request for the Goblin Slayers’ help with the chaotic uprising of demons. Goblin Slayer refuses at first, but once the three representatives explains to him that the problem also involves goblins, he accepts their request. The priestess also joins Goblin Slayer and the three representatives on a mission to take down a horde of goblins. Goblin Slayer explains the significance of a moon while on the journey.

Character Setup

The high elf, dwarf, and lizardman, as I said before, are representatives of their homelands. These individuals are different races that don’t normally associate themselves with each other. The elf and dwarf constantly argue, and the lizardman is the one that breaks them up.

When Goblin Slayer arrived, the elf as a bad first impression of him, but the dwarf and lizardman have no problems with him. The priestess felt left out of a conversation Goblin Slayer was having with the representatives, but she did kill time by talking to a mage that once went on an adventure with Goblin Slayer.

While traveling to the location of the horde of goblins, Goblin Slayer tells the group that his older sister once told him that the goblins may in fact come from the green moon that is shown in the night sky. He also states that the goblins had nothing on the moon and the goblins want what they don’t have on the moon by coming to the human world.

Tone & Themes

The episode opens with a lightning storm, earthquakes, and a violent volcanic eruption because the gods were rolling die to decide how to rule the universe, and I thought that was a creative way to start the episode.

I say the episode maintains the dark tone this series is trying to give to the audience, except there is no violent, gory action until the very end of the episode. There is mostly dialogue throughout the entire episode. I know that this series is not comedic based, but the banter between the elf and dwarf, and sometimes Goblin Slayer, was hilarious.

A theme brought up in this episode was that Goblin Slayers’ actions are actually helping the world, but that was already emphasized in episode 2. Also, it was mentioned that Goblin Slayer should not always slay goblins because there are other dangerous creatures, probably more dangerous than goblins, that he could be using his skills to take down.

Animation & Sound

The animation is mostly decent, I just wish they would not use CG animation for Goblin Slayer, even if they use it for a couple seconds in certain scenes. Hopefully I’ll get used to the small amount of CG they sometimes use, because it’s not like the CG used in the Berserk anime.

I also noticed the small things they did with the animation, such as the reflection of the priestess face in the tea cup, the camera twirling around with the mages pipe, and the camera shot following a flying arrow and how the arrow curved right into two goblins skulls.

Like I said earlier, there was mostly dialogue in this episode, but the dialogue was performed extremely well because the voice actors put a lot of emotion into their voice acting even though this episode was not that serious.

Goblin Slayer Ep. 3 – Final Thoughts

This episode was a little bit slow, but it seemed like it was setting the playing field for some great episodes in the future. The story about the goblins being from a green moon was interesting, but I can’t tell if it’s a rumor or the truth, so I would like to see where this plot point will go in the future.

There are a few beautiful moments of animation, I like the voice actors performances for their characters, they managed to make a good episode without any action until the end of the episode, and I like where the story is heading.

There is nothing more I have to say except for giving this episode an 8 out of 10.